Free URL Encoder & Decoder
Encode and decode URLs instantly. Perfect for fixing broken links, preparing URLs for APIs, and handling special characters.
Try these examples:
URL Encoded
Length: 0 characters
URL Decoded
Length: 0 characters
What is URL Encoding?
URL encoding (also called percent-encoding) converts special characters into a format that can be safely transmitted over the internet. Special characters are replaced with a percent sign (%) followed by two hexadecimal digits.
When to Use URL Encoding:
- URLs with spaces or special characters
- Query parameters with user input
- API requests with dynamic data
- Form submissions with special characters
- Sharing URLs that contain non-ASCII characters
Common URL Encoding Issues:
- Broken Links: Spaces and special characters break URLs
- Form Data: Special characters in form submissions
- API Calls: Parameters with spaces or symbols
- Email Links: @ symbols and spaces in email addresses
- Search Queries: Special characters in search terms
URL vs URI Encoding:
- URL Encoding: For web addresses and links
- URI Encoding: More comprehensive, includes all URI schemes
- Form Encoding: Spaces become + instead of %20
Common Character Encodings
%20
Space
&
%26
Ampersand
?
%3F
Question mark
#
%23
Hash/Fragment
%
%25
Percent sign
+
%2B
Plus sign
=
%3D
Equals sign
/
%2F
Forward slash
:
%3A
Colon
@
%40
At symbol
URL Encoding Best Practices
Do's
- • Always encode user input in URLs
- • Use proper encoding for query parameters
- • Test URLs after encoding/decoding
- • Encode entire parameter values, not the URL structure
- • Use UTF-8 character encoding
Don'ts
- • Don't double-encode already encoded URLs
- • Don't encode the entire URL structure
- • Don't assume all special characters need encoding
- • Don't forget to decode on the receiving end
- • Don't mix different encoding standards
Complete Your Social Media Toolkit
Maximize your social media success with our other free tools